Sunday evening, Virginia volleyball gathered to watch the NCAA selection show, which announced the 64 teams selected to compete in the NCAA Division I women’s volleyball tournament. The Cavaliers, who went 21-10 in the regular season and a respectable 11-9 in the ACC, were on the cusp of their first postseason appearance since 1999.
But Virginia’s name went uncalled during the show. The disappointing result followed the program’s first 20-win campaign since 2006. All eight teams that finished above the Cavaliers in the ACC regular season standings were selected for the NCAA Tournament — as was NC State, who finished one spot below them — signalling just how close Virginia came at a chance to compete for a national title.
A disheartening watch party for the Cavaliers was saved only by a bid to the National Invitational Volleyball Championship, the news of which came later that night. Though ultimately a consolation prize to the NCAA Tournament, Virginia’s selection for the NIVC, which features 29 teams and has been held annually since 2017, is an enormous step forward for the program. It marks only the third postseason appearance in the Cavaliers’ history.
“[Postseason play is] something that we’ve talked about probably for the last two years, to be honest,” Coach Shannon Wells said. “No volleyball team at U.Va. has ever won a postseason match.”
The Cavaliers have the opportunity to change that Sunday at Memorial Gymnasium. Virginia was awarded a first-round bye and home court advantage in the second round. It will play the winner of St. John’s and North Carolina A&T, who face off Saturday at Memorial Gymnasium.
Virginia’s players, and especially its seniors, are excited about the opportunity to keep playing in front of the Cavalier faithful beyond the regular season.
“We absolutely love our facility and our crowd that we have every game,” senior libero Milan Gomillion said. “Having them along the journey with us and allowing them to see what we built this season … it means the world to us.”
Gomillion is part of a dominant senior class that has led the way for Virginia in 2024, along with senior outside hitter Elayna Duprey, a transfer from Virginia Tech. Duprey is the team’s leader in kills and has also produced 18 serve aces this season. She figures to play a critical role in the Cavaliers’ rare chance at a playoff run.
“We’re just taking it one step at a time, just completing ‘mini’ goals,” Duprey said. “Our first goal was to make it to a postseason, and we’ve completed that goal, so now it’s just focusing on the first game and how we can get better from our last match — just kind of improving on the little things going forward.”
Virginia, the only ACC representative in the NIVC, will be seeing some new teams this weekend. The Cavaliers have not played any of the other 28 teams selected for the tournament this season, and in all of the program’s history, Virginia has come up against less than half of the field. The opportunity to test itself against unfamiliar competition brings both excitement and nerves into play.
“You get very comfortable within your conference, and you start to understand why people do certain things in their game,” Wells said. “That will be an exciting challenge for our team to step up and respond … it’s a lot more work, but it’s also fun work because it’s really new.”
The Cavaliers have responded to challenges all season. They swept No. 21 Florida State in October and took a set off of No. 3 Louisville in November, marking the program’s second-ever set win over a top five team.
The competition in the NIVC will be noticeably weaker than many of Virginia’s ACC foes, so the team will feel confident heading into its opening match Sunday. As one of only three squads to receive a first-round bye, the Cavaliers have a real chance to come away with more than just a participation trophy this month.
The matchup against either the Red Storm or the Aggies is set for Sunday at 6 p.m. and will be streamed on ESPN+.
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